


I'm Stuck on You

by Twinklylightseverywhere



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cabin Fic, Christmas AU, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Oblivious Isak, Sharing a Bed, idk man, or not really?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 02:03:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17214953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twinklylightseverywhere/pseuds/Twinklylightseverywhere
Summary: Jonas lets out another nervous laugh. Isak wishes his best friend would shut up. “You two will take the spare room. Uh… with one bed.”“ONE BED?” Isak and Even both shout at the exact same time.“Merry Christmas!”





	I'm Stuck on You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skater110599](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skater110599/gifts).



> To [Autumn!](http://skater110599.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Hello bb, I'm your secret santa! (The one who thought you were cool lmao)  
> I really hope you enjoy! I tried to throw in as many tropes that you wanted and came out with this haha. Merry Christmas and I really hope that you enjoy <3
> 
> On another note, ghost fic ain't over peeps (not unless you want it to be.)  
> A very happy holidays to you all and happy new year!
> 
> Love,  
> Noah

“I’m sorry Jonas,” Isak hisses, tugging on his best friend’s sleeve insistently. “But _what the fuck?”_

Jonas tugs his arm free, giving Isak a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry dude,” he says, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. “It’s the only way that we could fit you both in on such short notice.”

Jonas and his family were so fucking sweet to invite Isak to their holiday cabin on such short notice this year. Jonas generally invites a few friends over before Christmas to the cabin, before sending them home to celebrate with their families for the big J’s birthday. Isak, however, only had to give his friend one look before the both of them knew. Isak wasn’t going to celebrate Christmas with his family this year.

Apparently, neither is Even Bech _fucking_ Næsheim. Isak’s part-time nemesis and full-time crush. (And of course, no one except for Isak could ever know that he has it really bad for Even, like seriously, those _hands.)_

Of course Jonas also invited the dude who Isak couldn’t even speak with without stuttering and freezing. Of course Jonas invited the dude who, upon being introduced all those months ago to a silent and stuttering Isak, assumed that Isak was just ignoring him, and then declared them enemies. Of course, they were sharing a room. Just fucking great.

“I don’t even know what your deal with him is.” Jonas’ voice comes to Isak’s attention once more. “Isn’t he like, your type?”

“My _type?”_ Isak repeats, his eyes narrowing into slits.

“Yeah,” Jonas replies sheepishly, ready to bolt in case the _Wrath of Isak_ bestows itself upon him. “Like, tall? Blonde? Male?”

Isak fights a blush. “Yeah, well,” he says, voice tight in this throat. “Not him, he’s an asshole.”

Jonas’ expression softens. He places a hand on Isak’s shoulder, and Isak fights the urge to run away from the contact. “Listen,” he continues, holding his intense-I’m-your-best-friend-type eye contact. “You won’t be alone with him except for when you’re sleeping, okay? You’ll have me, Mags, Mahd-Dog, and the girls until Christmas eve anyways.”

“But then they’ll all go home,” Isak complains, throwing his arms up in the air dramatically, effectively knocking Jonas’ hand from his shoulder. “What am I supposed to do then? He hates me!”

“He doesn't _hate_ you,” Jonas argues, shaking his head helplessly. “And beside-”

“Hey Jonas!” Shouts a familiar, deep voice from the doorway. Isak turns to see bright, blue-eyed, cute-grinned Even. His ridiculous hair is tucked up in a beanie (in the most adorable way possible), and his pale complexion is slightly bitten red from the cold. “Thanks again for inviting- oh shit, what’s _he_ doing here?”

Isak freezes, and not just because of the cold that Even is letting in.

“Isak’s my childhood best friend, Even,” Jonas replies, laughing nervously as Isak trains in eyes down to the carpeted floor. “He’ll be spending Christmas with us this year, just like you! Isn’t that awesome!”

“Christmas?” Even questions, his ridiculous (cute) eyebrows raising incredulously. “Uh, okay, whatever.”

“And uh,” Jonas lets out another nervous laugh. Isak wishes his best friend would shut up. “You two will take the spare room. Uh… with one bed.”

“ONE BED?” Isak and Even both shout at the exact same time.

“Merry Christmas!” Jonas shouts back, and then, because he’s a traitor, heads towards Even. “C’mon dude, let's get you settled in!”

Even follows behind, a myriad of nonsensical complaints falling from his (gorgeous) lips. Isak wants to bang his head on the wall.

He walks over to the nearest wall and bangs his head on it.

“Goddammit,” he whispers to himself, rubbing the soon-to-be bump forming on his forehead. “Fucking Jonas.”

  
  
  


As it turns out, in the time that Even and Jonas have spent in their hipster artsy classes at Uni together, they’ve gotten really close. Just fucking Isak’s luck too, as he simmers between Mags and Mahdi on the small couch in the living room that night. In the kitchen, the girls are laughing and chatting over loud music and making gløgg.

“I don’t get it,” Isak whispers furiously to anyone who will listen. “Why do they have to be such good friends?”

“Maybe because you shut down every time Jonas talks politics?” Mahdi suggests, hiding his smile behind his sip of beer.

“Politics are boring,” Isak laments, throwing his head back dramatically against the couch.

“Maybe you’re just jealous because you totally want to bang Even?” Mags says, almost a little too loud.

Isak wrenches his head up from the armrest and punches Mags on the arm, _hard._

“Oj, fuck you!” Isak shouts as Magnus cowers a little. “I do not!”

“You do not what?” Asks a deep voice from behind Isak. Isak closes his eyes and curses every single deity that he doesn't believe in.

“Uh…” Isak trails off, cursing himself as he feels his face starting to turn red. “Nothing.”

Even huffs, rolling his eyes. “Whatever. Gløgg’s ready.”

“Yes!” Magnus shouts, making a start to stand up, when Isak tugs on his sleeve.

“Don’t even think about talking like that around Even,” he threatens, but when Magnus grins, Isak knows that he’s lost.

“Talking like what?” Magnus asks, his voice suspiciously innocent. “I just wanna get to know my best bud Even!”

“Hell yeah, Mags!” Isak hears from the kitchen. Even. Of course.

Isak turns to his other friend, who has a pitying look on his face. “Save me,” Isak moans, collapsing back against the arm rest.

“Stop being dramatic, dude,” Mahdi chuckles, grabbing Isak’s arm to tug him into a standing position. “Even’s chill, you’ll see!”

  


So, as it turns out, Even is chill. He’s chill with literally everyone except for Isak. He makes Jonas and Mahdi laugh at the stupidest jokes. He charms Magnus so hard that Isak is almost questioning his friend’s sexuality (if it weren’t for how disgustingly into Vilde Isak knew him to be.) Even even manages to make Sana (Sana!) laugh so hard that she snorts her non-alcoholic gløgg out of her nose. Isak sits there, simpering into his steamy wine, and wincing every time that Even speaks.

It’s not that Isak wants to hate him. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. On the night they met, all those months ago at that party, Isak had been trying to come up with the courage to talk to the hot blonde in the denim jacket. That was, until Jonas ruined it all for him and decided to introduce them prematurely. Cut to Isak freezing, stuttering severely, and then just fucking running away like a coward. All because Jonas didn’t give him the time to find the right words. Fucking Jonas.

So yeah, Isak didn’t want to hate Even. But apparently, Even wanted to hate him. For seemingly no reason. Like literally. The next time that the two ever went into the same vicinity, Even would turn his nose up at Isak, not even spare him a glance, but would hug everyone _else_ hello and goodbye at the party. Literally everyone else. Dude’s fucking ice cold. Whatever. Two could play that game.

And so, with a begrudging heart, Isak treads down to the room that he’ll be shackled up in for the next few days.

He couldn’t avoid it anymore. Not when Jonas caught his eyes drooping tiredly one too many times. There is no avoiding Even anymore.

Isak opens the door with a soft click, wincing as Even’s eyes automatically trail from his phone to the doorway from where he’s lying on the bed.

“Um…” Isak trails off, closing the door a little too loudly behind him. “I’m just gonna, uh-”

He points to his bag, and then to the en-suite bathroom.

“Okay,” Even says, raising his eyebrows, as if to say “So what?”

“Uh-” Isak shuffles awkwardly over to his bag, grabbing his pyjamas and his toiletries, cursing his pounding heart. “Yeah.”

He closes the door behind himself and breathes much too hard considering the lack of energy that should’ve taken.

“Fuck,” Isak whispers into the echo of the bathroom, feeling his heart sink into his stomach. There’s no way that he can do this.

He throws on his pyjamas, full-on t-shirt and plaid pants, because there’s absolutely no way that he’s sleeping in just his boxers like he normally would. He then takes his time brushing his teeth, scrubbing thoroughly at each of his molars, and at the wisdom teeth in the back.

Fucking hell.

When he’s completely done and unable to procrastinate any longer, he opens the door, again, a little too loudly.

Isak goes for a closed-lipped smile, but he fears that it comes out as more of a grimace as he shuffles back to his bag to put his stuff away for the night. He feels Even’s eyes on the back of his head as he does so, and he feels his blush spread down to his neck.

“Can you turn off the light?” Even asks, his deep voice oddly soft in the awkward tension of the room.

“Uh, yeah-” Isak mumbles, and then, because he’s an idiot, flicks the switch immediately. They’re plunged into total darkness.

Oh for fuck’s sake.

Isak shuffles his bare feet along the carpeted floor and throws his arms out as to not bump into anything.

When his foot hits the end of the bed with a large _thump,_ Even curses.

“Jesus Christ, just lie down,” he complains, sighing out his annoyance.

“Sorry!” Isak whispers, falling onto the bed, and then wincing as his shoulder hits something solid.

“What the fuck!” Even whisper-shouts, wrenching his body away from Isak. “Ow!”

“Fuck, uh-” Isak scrambles to the edge of the bed. “S-sorry.”

“Jesus, whatever,” Even huffs, and Isak blows out a breath. “Just go to sleep.”

“Okay,” Isak whispers out into the harsh pitch-black of the room, grabbing a measly corner of the blanket and covering himself halfway. He doesn't dare take more, for fear of taking the blanket away from Even.

He lies there for awhile, wondering how the hell he’s supposed to sleep like this. By some Christmas miracle, or perhaps the steady breathing of Even fast asleep beside him, he falls asleep.

  


“Good morning,” Sana muses that morning as Isak stumbles in, bleary eyed and half asleep. “Sleep well?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Isak grumbles, heading towards the coffee pot on the counter, hip checking a bewildered Eva out of the way when he gets there.

“Isak, what the fuck?” Eva gasps, looking from him to Sana, who’s failing to hold in her laughter. “You can’t just talk to people like that!”

“Oh, don’t worry.” Sana waves her hand nonchalantly as she snorts at Isak, who is clumsily pouring himself a cup of coffee. “We both cuss at each other all the time, it’s how biology buddies take out their anger. Isn’t that right, fucker?”

Eva gasps, looking back to Isak, who gives Sana a devilish smile.

“Damn straight,” he murmurs, wincing as the coffee burns his tongue slightly. “But she’s not even the one that I’m mad at.”

“Who are you mad at, then?” Eva asks hesitantly, looking to Sana, probably wondering if it’s even worth asking.

“He’s mad at me,” muses a new voice, deep and hoarse from sleep. _Even._ That fucker.

“What did you do this time?” Sana sighs, giving Even a fond, yet exasperated smile.

To Isak’s confusion and delight, Even turns an adorable shade of pink as he stutters out a non-coherent answer.

“I’ll tell you what he did,” Isak says, puffing out his chest, finally feeling as if he has the upper-hand in this strange dynamic that they have. “This fucker hogged the blankets _all night,_ as if it wasn’t freezing cold outside or anything. And then, to make matters worse, he woke me up at the ass-crack of dawn by _pushing me off the bed.”_

“First of all, I woke you up at eight,” Even giggles, unfortunately (fortunately) seemingly gaining his confidence back. “That’s hardly the ass-crack of dawn.”

“Hmm,” Eva hums, leaning her hip back on the counter next to Isak. “I gotta agree with Even there, it’s not _that_ early.”

“I thought you were my friend,” Isak whines, whipping his head to meet the traitor’s gaze.

Eva smiles at him and hip checks him, much softer than Isak had done to her minutes before. Okay, maybe she wasn’t a traitor.

“Second of all,” Even continues, and Isak whips his head back around to face the real traitor. “You were talking in your sleep, I had to get you to stop somehow.”

Isak makes a dramatic show of placing his coffee mug down onto the counter so that he can throw his arms up in the air. Luckily, his little crush on Even goes way into the back of his mind. Sue him, he has a flair for the dramatic sometimes (read: all the time.)

“Wow,” Isak laments sarcastically, rolling his eyes as far back as they’ll allow him. “However shall I wake Isak up? I know, I’ll just fucking push him off the bed instead of, I don’t know, call his name? Poke his shoulder? Literally anything else?”

“Yeah, well-”

“Alright,” Sana interrupts, trading gleeful glances with Eva. “That’s enough sexual tension for me today, thanks.”

“Ugh!” Isak grabs his coffee, and trudges out of the kitchen before he’s left alone with Even, _again._

“Even,” he hears Sana say in a gentle voice. And okay, Isak doesn't _mean_ to eavesdrop. He’s just happening to overhear a conversation is all.

“I’m sorry, okay!” Even replies, sighing out in frustration. “Just like- shit- don’t tell anyone about this, okay? Especially not Isak.”

“We won’t say anything,” Eva promises, her voice soft and warm.

“I think he was having a nightmare, that’s why I woke him up like that,” Even explains, and Isak’s heart freezes. “I tried calling his name, and shaking him but he wouldn’t wake up, so I just pushed him.”

“He used to have nightmares a lot in high school,” Eva says after a beat. “I didn’t realize he was still having them.”

“He never talks to me about this kind of stuff,” Sana murmurs, her voice soft and sad. “I’m-”

Isak runs. He doesn't even care anymore.

It’s bad enough that Eva knows that Isak had nightmares as a teenager. It’s bad enough that, on the days where Isak crashed on Eva’s couch because things were too shit at home, she’d find him shaking and crying after having a nightmare like a little kid. It never even mattered what the nightmares were about, because they always centered around the same theme: Losing everyone.

Which was why, he couldn’t let Even in at all. Especially not now.

  


“Hey boys,” Isak calls out to Jonas, Mahdi, and Mags in the living room.

The three call out varying degrees of “Heyyyyyy!” around their beers, most likely expecting Isak to come join them and get lost in the bliss of alcohol-induced inebriation.

Isak, however, hovers in the doorway and looks to his best friend.

“Jonas, can I talk to you?” Isak asks, nodding his head towards one of the spare bedrooms for Jonas to follow.

“Yeah, of course,” Jonas murmurs, setting his can of beer down quickly and following Isak. The both of them know by now the appropriate times to make fun of each other in a friendly way. This is not one of the times.

“I need to get out of here,” Isak says as soon as Jonas has closed the door behind him. “I’m sorry dude, I was really excited to spend Christmas here with you and your family, and like, I’m so fucking grateful that you even thought of me, but-”

“You’re leaving?” Jonas paraphrases, his eyes earnest and fucking pitiful. Isak can’t bear to look at them anymore.

“I’m sorry,” Isak whispers, looking down at his socked feet on the carpet. “I just can’t-”

“This is because of Even, isn’t it?” Jonas says, his voice a little too angry. Isak looks up, startled by the sudden change of emotion.

“Partly,” Isak says hesitantly.

“Dude,” Jonas huffs exasperatedly, throwing his arms up into the air. “Isn’t, like, the whole fucking point of Christmas to be happy and surround yourself with family?”

“You think Christmas is a capitalistic sham,” Isak deadpans, blinking at his friend.  
“Okay, I do,” Jonas concedes. “But! That doesn't mean that we can’t put our own meaning onto it! You’re my family dude, you’re like a brother to me! And I wouldn’t leave my family, or anyone for that matter, alone on Christmas. I know you wouldn’t either.”

“You know that I left my actual family alone on Christmas, right?” Isak fires back, swallowing down the lump of panic in his throat.

“Your actual family doesn't want to stay together, and your mom needs to be in the hospital right now, buddy,” Jonas argues gently, the anger in his expression now entirely gone. Instead, he looks pityingly at Isak. Isak hates that look.

“Yeah,” Isak concedes instead of arguing back. He’s too tired.

“You’re my family, and I’m not leaving you alone,” Jonas says, nodding firmly. “That’s that. You’re not allowed to argue with me on this one. And you’re not leaving.”

“Okay,” Isak whispers, training his gaze back onto the ground for a second, before meeting Jonas’ again. “You’re my brother too, you know that?”

“Yeah, I do,” Jonas smiles, and then, because he’s a little shit, smirks devilishly. “And as your brother, I’m here to tell you to cut some fucking slack on Even, man.”

“But-” Isak starts to argue, feeling the anger swoop into his belly real fast, before Jonas interrupts him.

“Listen, don’t tell him I told you this,” Jonas says hesitantly, looking to the closed door before lowering his voice. “But his long-term girlfriend left him like, three days ago or something. She basically took all his shit and kicked him out of their apartment. He called me, and I offered him a place here because I thought you’d understand what it would be like to be alone on Christmas. Like I said, no one gets left behind on Christmas, even if it is a total sham.”

“Oh.” Isak sits down on the edge of the bed. His heart stops once again, and guilt swoops something fierce in his belly. “Fuck.”

“Yeah.” Jonas chuckles humorlessly. He sits down next to Isak.

“But.” Isak wracks his brain for a minute. “How come he’s been a total dick to me ever since you introduced us?”

Jonas turns to him with a funny look on his face. “You seriously have no idea?”

“Um, no?” Isak questions, shaking his head uncomprehendingly. “I have absolutely no idea, other than the fact that I’m apparently standoffish?”

“Oh buddy,” Jonas sighs, reaching out a hand to place on Isak’s shoulder. “You’re not even close.”

Jonas then stands up, and looks back towards his best friend.

“I think you should talk to him instead of me,” Jonas says, in lieu of an explanation, before opening the door, and walking out, like the infuriating fucker he is.

Isak throws himself back against the bed, shouting out a “Fuck!” in frustration.

Well, apparently there would be no easy way to do this.

  


After a whole day spent ignoring Even, Isak resigns himself to another cold night, free from blankets.

When he opens the door and meets Even’s eyes, he’s expecting scoffs of frustration and eye-rolling. However, much to his surprise, he meets none of those.

Even’s eyes are open, wide, and earnest, which is something that Isak has personally never witnessed before.

“Um,” Even says into the silence of the bedroom, playing with his fingers in his lap. “I just wanted to, uh, apologize for this morning. I shouldn’t have shoved you off the bed.”

“Oh!” Isak’s so pleasantly surprised that he can’t even produce a witty retort. “Um, it’s fine, just like- try not to do it again?”

Even’s expression softens, and he lets out a little (cute!!!) snort.

“Will do,” he promises, smiling for a moment. “As a consolation, I’ll give you the blanket tonight. As an apology for, you know, freezing you last night.”

“Um-” Isak stutters, any of his confidence from earlier today suddenly gone. Now that the fake walls have been torn down, there’s no way that he can stop this crush from getting to him. “It’s fine! We can share, or uh- not share? I mean like- you get one half, and I get half-”

“We can share,” Even chuckles, his eyes wide and bright in a way they normally aren’t. Isak suddenly understands why everyone is so enamoured with him.

“Okay!” Isak says, a little too enthusiastically, and so he clears his throat and tries again. “Okay. I’m just gonna brush my teeth and stuff.”

“Sounds good.”

Isak feels Even’s eyes follow his back as he grabs his stuff and heads into the bathroom. What follows is probably the laziest and quickest change of clothing and brushing of teeth that Isak has ever performed. And seriously, that’s saying a lot, considering Isak’s closet of clothing is his bedroom floor.

He shuffles back into the bedroom, grabs his phone from his pocket, and turns on the screen as he turns the bedroom light out. The dim light leads him back to his edge of the bed. Isak places his phone on the bedside table and climbs under the much more generous and warm cover, and nuzzles the pillow to get comfortable.

“Hey, Isak?” Even whispers out into the silence of the room once Isak’s stopped shuffling.

“Yeah?”

“I’m really sorry for being such a dick to you,” Even apologizes, and Isak finds himself shaking his head in protest, despite the fact that Even probably can’t see it.

“Nah, I was a dick right back to you,” Isak reasons, turning his head to face the faint outline of the man lying next to him. “Don’t even worry about it.”

“Okay.” Isak thinks he hears the smile in Even’s voice.

“Okay.”

The two settle in silence, and Isak finally feels the exhaustion from the day wear on his body. His eyes become satisfyingly heavy. He snuggles into the soft blanket, allowing himself to soak up the warmth radiating from Even’s side of the bed. Unlike the fitful sleep that he fell into last night, Isak feels himself being lulled into a safe, dreamless slumber when-

“Uh, Isak?” Even whispers out in the silent room again.

“Yeah?” Isak murmurs, unable to hide the exhaustion from his tone.

“I’m really cold, I think they’ve turned the heater off or something.”

“Ugh,” Isak moans, shifting his body closer to Even.

He wraps his arm around Even’s waist, snuggling his nose into the nape of his neck. Immediately, Isak’s nose is filled with the warm scent that he didn’t know he needed until now. His hair is soft, oh so soft, tickling gently at Isak’s forehead. In his half-asleep state, Isak wonders why they haven’t done this before. Like, seriously, Even is so soft, it’s wonderful.

“There, warm?” Isak mumbles, breathing out onto Even’s neck.

If Isak had been more awake and less stupid, he’d notice how Even has frozen, and then relaxed against Isak’s body pressed behind him. Or perhaps he’d notice the way that Even’s heart beats a little too fast. Or perhaps he’d notice the goosebumps on his neck.

He doesn't notice anything, except for the fact that he is so exceptionally warm, much warmer than he’s been in a long time. He falls into an easy, dreamless sleep.

  


Isak swears he’s literally sleeping on a cloud right now. Like seriously, everything is just so goddamn comfortable, enveloping him in warmth and safety the only way that a cloud can. Isak breathes out a content sigh, burying his nose into the soft strands of hair and the warm, slightly musky scent, when suddenly, the cloud freezes.

Okay, it doesn't actually freeze, considering Isak is still warm. However, it stops breathing.

Wait a second. Clouds don’t breathe.

Isak wrenches himself awake, pulling begrudgingly away from whatever he was snuggled up against.

“Um,” Even stutters, his morning voice low and deep and ohso amazing and-

Oh. Oh God. Oh holy mother of God. Isak spent the whole night spooning Even.

Isak really wants to stay and explain things. Maybe he can just say that he got cold during the night and-

Ah, who is he kidding. Isak can’t fucking think right now. The only appropriate thing to do is ABORT MISSION.

“Heh,” Isak chuckles nervously, almost throwing the covers off of himself and sitting up. “Thought you uh- had something- haha, I totally didn’t mean that- uh, I’m gonna go have some- uh, coffee? Yeah.”

Isak practically runs out of the room, studiously ignoring Even’s confused “Isak?” after him.

  


Isak barges straight into the kitchen to find all five girls laughing and singing along to the radio as they cook breakfast together. Sana and Vilde are laughing side by side, looking oh so radiant and happy. Eva and Noora watch as Chris tries to juggle three eggs carefully, giggling as they’re almost dropped onto the floor. Isak really hates to do this.

“Morning ladies,” Isak cuts in, already making a grab for Sana. “I need to borrow Sana for a minute. Biology stuff.”

Sana, bless her soul, follows without complaint.

Isak hears Vilde call a confused, “But we’re on holidays?” after them, but he ushers her along, out the front door, onto the snow covered deck.

“Um?” Sana protests, her socked feet curling up onto the welcome mat as to not get wet. “Isak? It’s snowing?”

“Yeah, I know,” Isak replies, steeling himself as he looks her dead in the eye. Sana’s gaze softens. “I need to know something.”

“Something about Even?”

Isak rolls his eyes. “Am I that transparent?” he asks only semi-sarcastically.

“You’re literally see-through,” Sana retorts, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Whatever,” Isak replies smartly. “I need to know how you know him.”

“We all know him?” Sana furrows her brows, shaking her head.

“No, but,” Isak says, taking a deep breath in the frigid air. “You knew him before, didn’t you?”

Sana lets out a sigh of defeat. “Okay, fine,” she surrenders, looking out into the snow-covered wilderness quickly before training her gaze back on Isak. “He and my brother, Elias, are childhood friends. He used to come around all the time back when they were in high school.”

“Okay,” Isak allows, raising his eyebrows. “So you know him well?”

“We were never that _close,_ but I’d consider him a friend, yeah.” Sana shrugs nonchalantly.

“What’s his deal, then?” Isak questions.

“His deal?”

Sana looks to Isak quickly before looking down at her feet. Bingo.

‘You know more than you’re letting on,” Isak decides, crossing his own arms across his chest in defiance. “You and Jonas both know something that I don’t, and I don’t get why I can’t know.”

Sana casts a steely gaze on him, shaking her head.

“You really don’t know?” she asks, chuckling humorlessly.

Isak shakes his head no.

“Jeez,” she laughs again, this time, much more genuine. “For such a smart guy, you’re really stupid, you know that?”

“Gee, thanks,” Isak sneers sarcastically, throwing Sana the meanest glare he can muster.

“You’re welcome.”

Isak looks out into the snow and then shivers. In the periphery of his vision, Sana does the same.

“I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you this,” Sana continues, leaning against the cold door frame. “Even’s a great guy. I’ve known him for a long time and he’s single-handedly one of the most caring people that I’ve ever met. Just, uh… don’t take advantage of that, okay? He’s gone through a lot, and- yeah, he’s sacrificed a lot to come here.”

Isak snaps his head back to Sana, who slaps a hand across her mouth, her eyes wide.

“What did you just say?” Isak asks, raising his brows. Sana shakes her head, her fingers scrambling for the doorknob.

With lightning quick speed, she ducks into the doorway, throwing a quick “Nothing!” behind her.

Goddammit.

  


Breakfast is an awkward affair. Vilde and Magnus act like a stupidly in love couple and decide to feed each other pancakes until they’re dripping syrup down their chins. This would be stupid enough, that is until Magnus decides to fucking _lick_ the syrup off Vilde’s chin. All the while, Even is staring at Isak.

He’s probably thinking about how much of a freak Isak is, because honestly, who the _fuck_ spoons their previous enemy-slash-tentative friend to sleep? Isak apparently.

Honestly, Even’s probably figuring out how to file a restraining order against him, or something-

“Isak?” Even’s voice cuts through the inner turmoil, and Isak looks up fearfully.

Even’s expression, however, is not full of malice. It’s completely innocent.

“Can you pass the syrup, please?” Even asks, full-on with manners, just to harshen the blow for later on.

“Oh!” Isak exclaims, jerking his hand towards the bottle of syrup that’s sat right in front of him. “Sure!”

Isak would’ve picked up the bottle, rather, if it weren’t for his long, clumsy-ass arms getting in the way. Instead, Isak knocks over his entire plate, right off the table, and right onto his lap.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” says Jonas somewhere to his left. Isak doesn't even need to look to know that his best friend is face-palming real hard right now.

“Dammit,” Isak whispers, peeling the syrup sticky plate from his flannel pyjama pants and chucking it mindlessly onto the table.

He looks down to inspect the damage, and yup, of course. Isak just _had_ to drench his pancakes in syrup. His pants are completely ruined now, and they’re the only pair that Isak brought along, so that’s nice.

“Well,” Magnus interjects, somehow pulling himself away from eating Vilde’s face. “It’s not the first time you’ve had sticky stuff on you, eh?”

Both Mahdi, and surprisingly, Eva, snort.

“Oh my god, shut up Mags,” Isak mumbles under his breath as he turns away from table, and scurries into his bedroom, making a beeline for the en-suite.

Isak throws a towel into the sink and turns on the tap, letting the water soak into it for a few seconds before pressing it down to his sticky, pyjama covered thighs, attempting to scrub at the worst of the damage.

“Fucking hell,” Isak mutters to himself, and to his horror, he feels hot tears begin to water in his eyes. Isak clears the lump in his throat hastily, wringing the wet with water and syrup towel into the sink and wetting it again with fresh water.

A knock at the door makes a single tear fall down. Isak wipes at his face angrily.

“Fuck off!” he calls out, scrubbing vigorously at his pants once more.

The doorknob turns, and Isak watches in slow motion as the door opens to reveal Even on the other side. His stomach sinks. He prepares himself to be humiliated.

Even, however, has a sheepish grin on his face.

“Um, sorry,” he murmurs, leaning his shoulder tentatively on the doorframe. “I seem to be fucking things up all the time, don’t I?”

Isak stares, the towel and the mess long forgotten. “What?”

“You know.” Even shrugs, standing upright once more and taking a step towards Isak carefully, as if approaching a wounded animal. “Throwing you off the bed, stealing the blanket, making you cuddle me when you obviously didn’t want to. Coming on this trip in general, maybe?”

“You…” Isak freezes, his mouth ahead of his brain once again. “You… what?”

“You didn’t want me to come on this trip?” Even repeats, his eyes way sadder than they deserve to be.

“Um, you didn’t want _me_ here?” Isak argues, and then freezes once more. “Hold on, _you_ made _me_ cuddle you? What the fuck?”

“Last night?” Even says, slowly, nodding his head encouragingly.

“Um…” Isak racks his brain, unable to process what Even is telling him.

“Jesus Christ, Isak,” Even sighs exasperatedly, his face flushing that familiar pink once again. “I’m like, so fucking obsessed with you it’s not even funny. Like, literally, the first time I saw your face all I thought was _I really want to squish him_ and then I thought _I really want to kiss him_ but then you got all weird when I begged Jonas to introduce us and-”

“Squish me?” Isak repeats, because, of course, that’s what his brain picked out.

“Yes!” Even throws up his arms in defeat, leaning against the bathroom counter with a sigh. “I have the world’s biggest crush on you, Isak.”

“You…” Isak trails off, the synapses in his brain firing like a game of ping pong. “You… have?”

“A crush,” Even finishes, casting his eyes down at his feet. “And now you know. I’m the loser that dumped his long-term girlfriend to chase down a crush that I knew didn’t like me back. I ruined his Christmas with his friends, made him share a room with me, shoved him off the bed, made him cuddle me without his consent, and then, I made him spill syrup all over himself- which is just the icing on top of the-”

“You don’t put icing on pancakes,” Isak interrupts, letting out a chuckle and then watching it fall flat as Even’s face falls even further.

They stand in silence for a bit. A bit of syrup drips off of Isak’s pants.

“Why did you pretend to hate me, then?” Isak asks curiously, daring a glance at Even, who is still looking down at his feet.

“Because you would just- not talk to me every single time we saw each other,” Even shrugs his shoulders. Although Isak is the one with syrup on his pants, Even manages to look even more pitiful out of the two. “So I assumed that you thought I was creepy, or just didn’t like me or something. So I just decided to play it cool.”

Isak shakes his head, somehow even more blindsided.

“I thought you didn’t like me,” Isak admits, figuring that now is the right time to tell Even the truth. “I thought that you saw how I literally couldn’t even muster up the courage to talk to you and decided that I was standoffish, or something.”

“You couldn’t talk to me?” Even asks, furrowing his brows, finally looking up to meet Isak’s eyes.

“You have no idea how intimidating you are,” Isak says sheepishly, and this time, it’s his turn to blush. “You’re like, really cute and I had no idea how to talk to you.”

“But-”

“Even,” Isak interrupts, unable to stop himself from giggling a little. “I have the world’s biggest crush on you too.”

“Oh,” Even says, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “So, basically, we’re total dumbasses?”

“Yup.”

“Just one more thing,” Even wonders, as Isak braves looking him in the eyes.

“Yeah?” Isak wonders, unable to stop a small grin from forming on his lips.

“If I were to kiss you right now, what would happen?”

“Hm,” Isak fake muses, his small grin becoming wider and wider by the second. “First, the world would continue to spin. Second, nothing would change because we’ve both liked each other this entire time and everyone knows it. And third, you’d get syrup all over your pants.”

“I think I’m okay with a little bit of syrup,” Even muses, his grin just as wide as Isak’s as his arms reach out to wrap around Isak’s waist.

Isak clutches onto Even’s shoulders, unable to stop his heart from beating a million miles a minute. He doesn't fight it. Instead, he peers up into Even’s clear blue eyes, and goes with the flow.

“Have I really ruined your Christmas?” Even whispers, placing his forehead gently upon Isak’s.

Isak swallows as the butterflies fly wildly in his stomach.

“Not even close,” Isak replies, and then, he closes the distance.

Isak’s Christmas isn’t even close to being ruined. It’s more, like, covered in syrup. He isn’t losing Even, because, well, they’re kinda stuck together anyways.

**Author's Note:**

> Come [chatski](https://unendeligtid.tumblr.com/) yo


End file.
